Review: Scalped: the Gnawing

I’ve raved about Scalped a fewtimeshere and now I’m starting to run out of new ways to praise it. It’s the best crime comic written today, and quite possibly the best ever.

The Gnawing is the latest tale, in which undercover agent Dash Bad Horse is tasked by Chief Red Crow to find the rat in his organization. And if that isn’t bad enough Dash also has to attempt to keep a witness to a murder perpetrated by Red Crow alive long enough to testify. And Red Crow has his own problems after inciting a war with his casino’s financiers.

The ensuing conflict is one of the most brutal stories I’ve ever read. This is an epic tragedy, with no happy endings. In fact, the saddest part of the book is the news that a character is pregnant and that the pain and suffering endured by everyone in the story is about to be extended into another generation. It’s heartbreaking and ingenious writing that somehow made a great book get even better.